Then when it was time to go back on Wednesday, Carter was freaked out. He was suddenly extremely scared (to the point of tears when he was getting into the water). Just a few hours before he was doing a flip into the pool with Suzy's kids. I had no idea why he was so scared. He could barely function in the water - only going a few feet before wanting to grab the lane divider or wall.
Thursday was more of the same. The drive to the pool was hard and then we had to wait an extra 30 minutes to get into the pool because there was a passing thunderstorm which also closed the indoor pool for 30 minutes. I had even called Brian on the way to the pool to ask him to come if he could to help Carter with his confidence. Carter made it through practice again but there were some tears in his goggles and he would not stick that bottom lip back in.
After practice Carter could not warm up. We went out to dinner and he fell asleep while there. When we got home we took Carter's temperature and it was 100F. I took him to the pediatrician the next morning to discover he had a double ear infection. I really don't think that is what made Carter freak out but I'm sure it didn't help.
Carter's next practice was this Monday. Carter was still scared. However, our neighbors that told us about the program were finally starting it that day after being out of town for two weeks. Emory and Cade (who is on Carter's soccer team) are twins and start kindergarten with Carter in the fall. Cade is a decent swimmer but Emory was just as freaked out as Carter. There was also another boy there that had missed a week that was extremely scared and kept having to leave the pool.
Having friends there and not being the only scared one seemed to help Carter tremendously. About halfway through practice Carter actually looked at me with a half smile! After practice he told me he actually had a little fun. Plus, by not being so scared, Carter actually swam so much better. He made it half way down the 25 yard pool without grabbing onto anything. His coaches were very excited for him!
After practice Carter also got his team shirt and swim cap. He had to put the shirt on right away and where it the next day.
Yesterday Carter asked me all day if it was time to go to swim practice yet. He appeared excited which was awesome. When it was time to go though he told me he was a lot scared and a little excited. This was still an improvement. But, wow, did he do so good yesterday. He didn't appear scared and instead of standing in the water and not moving while waiting for his turn (and encouraging everyone to go in front of him), he was diving under the water and enjoying himself. The very last thing the kids do at practice is jump into the deep end (10 1/2 ft) and swim freestyle to the other end of the pool (25 yds). For the first time ever, Carter made it the entire way across without stopping!!! Yay!!! This is also what kids have to do to pass the swim test (they are really picky though about not pausing at all and full arm extensions). Coach Victoria was super happy and told me she knew he'd be at that point in a week. I'm excited to see what today's practice will be like!
The kids have been working on freestyle and backstroke. They use kickboards at the beginning of practice and even used them yesterday for backstroke. It really helped Carter with backstroke - his kick is so much better. Practice is supposed to be 45 minutes (and 3 days a week), but Coach Victoria has been making it almost an hour each day. Carter has 3 weeks left and I'm hoping he can pass the Y's swim test by the end!
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